Eric Cantor Rewarded for Deriding Occupy Wall Street

On October 7th, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) derided the Occupy Wall Street movement as a “mob” that was “pitting Americans against Americans.”

Those sorts of statements may make him seem out of touch with the wide majority of Americans that agree with the goals of the movement, but it won’t hurt his donor base that’s filled with Wall Street donors and other members of the 1%. The October fundraising report for his leadership PAC, filed with the FEC, makes that clear.

In the month of October:

Cantor’s PAC received 21 donations totaling $21,750 from the executives of the New York Stock Exchange—all but one of which came after he made his “mob” comment on October 7th. The NYSE PAC also handed over $5,000 on October 21st, the day Cantor canceled his speech on income inequality in Philadelphia due to planned protests by Occupy supporters.

He received donations in October from the employees of Credit Suisse ($9,250 in contributions), Morgan Stanley ($6,750), and accounting firms Clark and Weinstock ($500) and Novogradac & Co LLC ($9,000). All but two of these donations came after the “mob” comment.

Financial industry PAC donations in October include the Chicago Board of Options Exchange ($2,500), Pacific Life Insurance ($2,500) and Visa PAC ($2,500).

Roll Call reported a few weeks ago that “Cantor's popularity among Wall Street executives has cemented his status as the top rainmaker on Capitol Hill.”

I wonder how his constituents in Richmond, Va.—350 miles from Wall Street—feel about that.